page_title: FB Vis
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: FB Vis / History
context_page_description: Vis is a 9×19mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistol. Its design was inspired by American firearms inventor John Browning's 9mm "Browning GP" pistol which was completed after Browning's death by designers at Fabrique Nationale in Herstal Belgium. Production of the Vis began at the Fabryka Broni arms factory in Radom in 1935, and was adopted as the standard handgun of the Polish Army the following year. The pistol was valued by the Germans and towards the end of the war issued to German paratroopers. Largely based on the Browning Hi-Power and using 9 mm rounds, the Vis is highly prized among collectors of firearms.
context_section_description: The pistol bears many internal and external similarities to the famous Colt M1911A1, to the point that some parts are almost interchangeable (ie. frame, main spring, trigger, screws in the exact same places and kept in the same (non-metric) diameter etc.). Some could argue, that the design was generally based on American firearms inventor John Browning's Browning Hi-Power, as adapted by Piotr Wilniewczyc and Jan Skrzypiński in 1930 at the Fabryka Broni (Arms Factory) in Radom under Director Kazimierz Ołdakowski. But Colt 1911 resemblance is much more striking. It operated on the short-recoil principle, with the barrel being cammed down and away from the locking lugs in the slide.
  This later John Moses Browning design, unlike the M1911, was not cammed by a link, but by a ledge of sorts, which contacts a portion of the barrel and forces it down as it is moved rearward with the slide by the recoil force. It shares some similarities to the Spanish Ruby .45 ACP. Like the 9mm Browning GP, a characteristic feature was a trapezoid grip shape, wider at the bottom, offering good ergonomics and firm grip. On the right side grip cover, the Polish copy pistol had letters VIS in a triangle, on the left side—FB (for Fabryka Broni—"Arms Factory").
  The handgun was prepared in late 1930, and at the beginning of 1931 the first pistols were ready for testing. Initially it was named WiS (an acronym of the Polish designers' names), later the name was changed to Vis, meaning "force" in Latin, with the wz. abbreviation for wzór ("model").
  The tests proved that the handgun was very accurate and stable (due to its size and mass, most stresses are absorbed and not passed on the shooter), while at the same time remaining reliable after firing more than 6,000 rounds. The Vis was generally regarded as one of the best military pistols of that period.
  Production started in the state armory Fabryka Broni in Radom in late 1935, and the following year it was introduced as the standard weapon of Polish infantry and cavalry officers. Successively, other units were to be equipped, and by 1932 all other handguns were scheduled to be withdrawn from service. By mid-1938, it was introduced to the armored and air forces. Before the invasion of Poland, approximately 49,400 (out of 90,000 ordered) were delivered to the army.
  In addition to the 9mm, there was also a small information series of .45 ACP version, with 7-round magazine, but they were not produced in greater series. Most probably only for the Argentinian competition the wooden stock-shoulder was issued but it has not survived. A .22 LR variant also existed, but no details are known, and its series was not produced in great numbers.
  After the Polish defeat in 1939, the Germans took over the Radom Armory and continued production of the Vis under the new name of 9 mm Pistole 645(p), which was for some reason often rendered as P 35(p) (the suffix "p" means "polnisch") (the German pistols of the first series had inscriptions VIS Mod.35 and  P.35(p) on the left side). Up to 1945, between 312,000 and 380,000 were produced and used by the German paratroopers and police.
  Fearing that Polish technicians working in the armory might supply the Home Army with the weapons, the Germans moved production of barrels and final assemble to Steyr-Daimler-Puch in the "Ostmark" (Austria). However, underground production of Vis barrels was started in Warsaw and Kielce-based Huta Ludwików, and several hundred Vis pistols were assembled of parts smuggled from the factory, delivered to the Home Army and used extensively during the Warsaw Uprising, among others.
  Vis pistols made after 1939 were issued in four different series, each with small modifications to simplify production. In late 1944, all production was moved to the Steyr works in Austria, where the last simplified model of the fourth series was produced (with no inscriptions at all, apart from bnz signature). The Vis remained in production until April 1945. Generally, the wartime Vis were of much lower quality than the original, and further degrading towards the end of th
caption: VIS Pistol construction
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